Sophia’s Point of View
When I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital.
The walls and ceiling overhead were white with the scent of disinfectant hanging heavy in the air.
“How do you feel?”
I looked away from the ceiling to my bedside to see a blonde doctor with a notepad and a comforting smile waiting for my response.
“Tired.” I managed to croak out, my throat feeling extremely dry.
But I didn’t just feel tired. I felt so much pain that I wanted to scream.
I had been working myself hard, taking on more and more work than I was supposed to all to secure my permanent employee position. And now it was all ruined.
Kate had framed me. Not only did I lose my job but with that stunt, she had also made sure no other restaurant would employ me once Renaissance blacklisted me for stealing.
“Thankfully, your fall didn’t cause any damage but you are extremely dehydrated and your nutrient levels are really low, especially for someone in your condition.” The doctor was saying when I tuned back into the conversation.
“My condition?” I echoed, my brow furrowing in confusion.
What condition was the doctor referring to?
“Oh,” The doctor exclaimed and for some reason, her smile grew wider. “Congratulations Miss Evergreen, you are six weeks pregnant.”
The world fell away as I heard those words, shock reverberating through my entire body.
I was pregnant? How could I be pregnant and not know it?
I noticed that I had missed a period but it wasn’t exactly out of the norm for me. Whenever I was under extreme stress, I missed my period like clockwork.
But now, I was pregnant?
“Miss?” The doctor said, her hand outstretched to give me a glass of water and I got the feeling it wasn’t the first time she’d tried to get my attention.
I took the glass from her. “Thank you.”
The doctor looked at me, her voice kind and gentle.
“Drink up and get some rest. Once your sugar levels are back up again, you will be discharged.”
I nodded once, my head still clouded with thoughts of confusion and uncertainty.
Once the door closed behind the doctor, I buried my face in my hands.
What on earth was going on? I was going to have a baby. An actual child.
I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.
My hand drifted to my belly involuntarily. I had always thought that when I had a child, I would remedy the mistake of my parents and bring that child into a healthy happy home.
Now not only was I divorced and jobless but the child’s father-
Good Lord.
I was six weeks pregnant. Six weeks ago, I slept with Jerry. Then the very next day, I had a drunken one night stand that I could barely remember.
Oh no.
Who was the father of this baby? Jerry or my one night stand?
“You look better in person.”
I glanced up as a stranger walked right into the hospital room.
He was tall, broad shouldered and unapologetically handsome with his close shaved buzz cut that only highlighted his arresting features that looked like they belonged on a model or a high fashion magazine.
I was certain I had never seen this man before so what was he doing here?
“Who are you?” I asked, drawing myself up on the bed.
“The man who wants to change your life.”
The stranger said his steel gray eyes sparkling with cold amusement as he adjusted his cufflinks.
Well, that was illuminating. I thought.
I took another look at his three-piece Armani suit and custom made shoes. He looked too expensive to be a reporter.
Not that I cared. I was too busy freaking out about the fact that I was about to become a mother.
“I don’t want any visitors,” I told my handsome guest before pointing at the door. “Please leave.”
The stranger didn’t leave. In fact, he sat on the chair next to my bedside, easily encroaching on my personal space.
“Miss Evergreen, I thought you would be more grateful to the person who got you to the hospital in time.” He said with that same soft detached voice with which he’d informed me that he was going to ‘change’ my life.
I froze. Not only did he know my surname but he had been there for the entire fiasco?
I looked at the stranger at my bedside that grew more enigmatic by the second.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
The stranger leaned in and I caught a whiff of his cologne. He smelt like cedar and a hint of mint. His scent reminded me of-
He placed his hand on my cheek and I forgot what he smelt like.
“Marry me.” The stranger said.
My jaw dropped for the second time that day.
“What?!”
The edges of his lips twitched into what might have passed for a smirk before he spoke.
“Sophia Evergreen, marry me and get revenge on your ex-husband.”
I must have hit my head too hard when I fell.
That was the only explanation for this reality where I was somehow pregnant and a handsome as sin stranger whose name I didn’t even know was proposing marriage to me.
“I don’t understand what you are saying.” I said finally when the stranger continued to watch me as though waiting for a response.
“It’s very simple, Miss Evergreen,” The stranger said, reclining in his seat, his every movement sleek and controlled. “The Baxters took everything from you and made you into a public ridicule. I am giving you a chance to get back at them and Jerry in particular, I will give you the power to bring them to their knees,”
He tilted his head to the side regarding me curiously before finishing his spiel.
“All you have to do is marry me.”
For a moment I stared at him in awe of his audacity.
Who was he to come here and talk to me like that?
Why did I get the feeling like from my time with the Baxters I should have known who he was? Only people who were extremely rich found it easy to talk down to other people like that.
But I had never paid any attention in particular to rich families. Like everyone else who lived in LA, I only knew the top five rich families that ran the continent. The Forsythe, Monroe, Zhao, Dominion and the Baxters.
He wasn’t a part of any of them.
“Okay, let me get this right,” I said. “You want to help me get revenge on the Baxters?”
He didn’t respond but those gray eyes didn’t leave mine for a second.
“Why do you want to help me?” I asked the stranger.
He shrugged casually in response.
“Because you are special, Miss Evergreen.”
I could barely hold back my scoff. Special indeed. I guess I was special if one considered the amount of bad luck I possessed.
I folded my arms narrowing my eyes at the stranger questioningly.
“Why do you want to go against the Baxters?”
There was a glint of an emotion I could barely recognize in the eyes of the stranger.
“I have my personal reasons.” He said then he shifted in his chair and I caught a hint of impatience flash across his face before he put on a placid blan expression.
“If revenge isn’t a strong enough motivation for you, Miss Evergreen, I will pay you fifty million dollars if you decide to marry me.”
At this rate, my jaw was going to become unhinged. Twelve million dollars? With that amount of money, I could restart my life.
Pay for Mom’s bills, start a business and take care of my unborn child.
The stranger’s lips turned up in a smug smile as though he knew exactly where he had me.
“What do you say, Miss Evergreen? Do you accept my offer?”
A contract marriage to get revenge on Jerry and the entire Baxter family. A contract marriage to get enough money to get my life back on track.
But I had been in a contract marriage before.
I met the gaze of the stranger and sealed my fate
“No, I will not marry you.” I told him.